KU Jayhawks’ Joseph Yesufu says he and other Chicago area guards play with ‘grit’
A native of Bolingbrook, Illinois, Joseph Yesufu made the short drive from the western Chicago suburb into the heart of the hoops-crazed Windy City regularly during his four years at Bolingbrook High School.
“Oh yes. I was in the city a lot, definitely. Actually, people would think I was from the city by the time I spent up there. The competition level is top notch. We play with grit,” said Yesufu, the former Drake point guard who entered the NCAA transfer portal after the 2020-21 college basketball season and ultimately chose to transfer to KU over Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Arizona State, Washington State and Wisconsin.
“Guys like Pat Bev (Patrick Beverley), Jabari (Parker), D. Rose (Derrick Rose), Isiah Thomas … we have that chip on our shoulder and we just want to play hard and be the best player on the court, every day,” Yesufu added of Chicago-area basketball players.
He spoke recently to the media after working as a counselor at Brett Ballard’s Washburn basketball camp in Topeka. He’s been in Lawrence since the start of summer school classes on June 8.
“I would go to play, work out,” noted Yesufu, a graduate of the Chicago MeanStreets AAU program. “I’d work out at Whitney Young (High School), a place in Franklin Park, just everywhere. Everywhere I could get in,” he added.
Known as a hard-worker on the court and in the classroom where Yesufu was a National Honor Society member, Yesufu did not receive many major college offers his senior year at Bolingbrook. He was an unranked player in the recruiting Class of 2019 who received some interest from the likes of Drake, DePaul, Green Bay, Toledo, UTEP, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois and others.
“The journey’s been rough. I’ve been counted out because of my height, but that just made me work even harder. I just wanted to keep improving my game and be the best player on the court. And so the journey has definitely been tough,” said Yesufu, who is listed 6-foot, 180 pounds with three years of eligibility remaining at KU.
“My shot has improved from high school to now,” added Yesufu, who averaged 16.0 points a game as a high school senior. As a sophomore at Drake last season, he averaged a modest 12.8 points, 1.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds a game overall. However, in the last nine games, he averaged 23.2 points, making at least four threes in five of those games.
He hit 44.2% of his shots on the season. He was 48 of 125 from three for 38.4%. However, he connected on 30 of 64 threes (46.9%) in his last nine games at Drake.
“I am a great shooter now. My thinking is I am a great leader off the court and on the court,” Yesufu stated.
After speaking with KU coach Bill Self before committing, Yesufu came away with the impression KU’s coaches like many things about both his personality and his game.
“Just my ability, my God-given ability for my speed,” Yesufu said of what attracted KU. “I had a bunch of similarities to some previous guys. He (Self) wants that back in his program. I think I can provide that.”
By “previous guys” he said he was referring to the likes of “Devon Dotson, Sherron (Collins), Devonté (Graham), Frank Mason, guys like that.”
In speaking with KU assistant coach Norm Roberts during recruiting, Yesufu said he learned, “They really wanted me, because of the way I play and (what happened in) the tournament.”
That would be Yesufu’s breakout play in the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
Yesufu first scored 21 points on 8-of-21 shooting (3-of-9 from three) with three assists, two turnovers and two steals in Drake’s 53-52 First Four victory over Wichita State on March 18 in Indianapolis.
In that game, he had a poster dunk over the Shockers’ Clarence Jackson. It was one of the most spectacular plays of the entire 2021 NCAA Tourney.
“Everybody is talking about it. It’s definitely a blessing being on that stage,” Yesufu said. “I knew I was going to go up for a dunk. Either way I was going to get fouled (off breakaway). I heard the whole crowd cheering (after contact). I figured it went in.”
Yesufu went on to score 26 points on 8-of-22 shooting (6 of 11 threes) with five rebounds, two assists and two turnovers in Drake’s 72-56 first-round loss to USC on March 20 in Indy.
The Trojans ended up clobbering KU as well. The Jayhawks fell to USC, 85-51, in a second-round contest on March 23 in Indy.
“USC is a tough team. They are long. The Mobley brothers … it was tough getting to the rim,” Yesufu said. USC’s 6-foot-10 Isaiah Mobley hit four three-pointers and scored 17 points with eight boards versus KU after scoring 15 points with five boards against Drake; Seven-footer Evan Mobley had 10 points and 13 boards vs KU after scoring 17 points with 11 boards against Drake.
“You get past the first line. The second line had that zone (defense). They had some trees you’ve got to shoot over. That made it tough for us in the second half,” Yesufu said of the Drake-USC game.
Still Yesufu thinks the toughest opponent he faced in two seasons at Drake was, “Dayton last year with Obi (Toppin). That’s probably the toughest we played,” he said. Drake fell to Dayton, 78-47, in 2019-20 in a game played in Dayton. Yesufu had six points and three assists in that game while Toppin had 19 points and eight boards.
Yesufu, who said, “it was definitely a special moment for me and my family,” when coach Bill Self first spoke to him after Yesufu entered the transfer portal on April 1, now will be vying for playing time on a KU team with one returning point guard — Dajuan Harris. Other point guards on the roster are: Remy Martin, who has until July 7 to remove his name from the NBA Draft pool if he wishes to play in 2021-22 at KU, plus freshmen Bobby Pettiford and Kyle Cuffe.
“I want us to be the most dominant guys, not just the Big 12 but the nation,” Yesufu said of the guards. “All these guys are very talented. You’ve got Bobby, Remy, Dajuan, Kyle, all those guys are definitely special. I want us to be great, to show the whole world what we can do. They are a great group, respectful to each other, all of that.”
Yesufu said KU’s style figures to be “get up and down the court. A lot of teams like Baylor, they love playing fast. That’s what coach Self is trying to get back to, playing even faster. I feel we (guards) can do damage in the Big 12.”
Yesufu said the KU guards, “all can score. It’s about how we can win now, how we can take the next step as a team, how we can keep getting better every day, keep pushing each other to get better.”
Yesufu said he feels fortunate to be at KU.“
“KU basketball is a blue blood. All eyes are going to be on us so I’m looking forward to playing under coach Self, because he’s a legend. I been watching him since I was a kid so it’s definitely an honor to be playing for him,” Yesufu said.
Self has high hopes for Yesufu.
“Joseph was a sophomore last year so he’ll still have three years remaining with us. He is kind of a do-everything guard. He started the last 10 games of the season (at Drake). He had games of 36 (points vs. Evansville) and 32 (also vs. Evansville),” Self said. “He averaged 23 (points) a game over the last 10 games. If you watched him in the NCAA Tournament he was probably the best player in the game against Wichita State. We’re very excited about Joseph. We think he can make an impact. He’s kind of a combo guard as well,” Self indicated.
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 9:05 AM with the headline "KU Jayhawks’ Joseph Yesufu says he and other Chicago area guards play with ‘grit’."
